Now before anyone jumps the train, this isn’t any kind of attack on the other forum. I was over at OGR and reading the posting about “talking about K-Line.” I was reading the thread and it was very obvious there are a lot of guys who really like the newer, scale proportioned K-Line product. Yes, there were one or two who have had problems, but this is always to be expected… different folks have different problems with all the different importers - for whatever reason.
There were a lot of comments on how K-Line has come a long way. But there were some also commenting on the so-called “junk” they used to make or the Marx copies that were once the bulk of the line. I’ve been hearing these kinds of comments for years… the older K-Line stuff is junk and the new stuff is much better. I’ve got a relative who has always called K-Line junk… and that I do so many alterations and repainting doesn’t help change his opinion. But he’s always coming from a solid Lionel-collector background.
My thinking is that there was nothing wrong with the types of trains K-Line once made nor is there anything wrong with the stuff they are making today. I think the same philosophy at K-Line applied then as it does now: to make trains that are affordable values on a quality comparison level to other products being made. Whether that be with more “toylike” trains or with more scale like trains that have appeal to the bulk of today’s adult scale operators. There is though a market for both types of products, although K-Line has certainly received more accolades, praise (and probably sales) with the newer scale product.
I really like the now retired S-2 switcher K-Line once made (from Marx origins). No, it’s not scale, but it’s also not a bad looking switcher for traditional sized operators with smaller layouts. It ran reasonably well and is an easy and affordable candiate for improvements. And same goes for the Alco FA and the MP-15, though these other 2 models have shown up in recent years, though l
My only gripe about K-Line is their rotten delivery schedule!
For me, K-line is the reason I entered O gauge. As an avowed GG-1 freak, the 2001 KCC membership premium of a GG-1 for $100 was too good to pass up and I wound up with one in tuscan and green!
I don’t care about scale and I don’t care about rivets. I’m an O-gauger on a budget and K-Line and their Collectors Club has kept my interest growing in the hobby. To that end, my roundhouse includes two GG-1s, an A5 0-4-0, and FM Trainmaster, a Plymouth, and two B&O F7s. Other than two Lionel steamers (one pre-war and one post war) and a couple Beeps, K-Line is the only manufacturer who makes anything I can afford! I’ve heard the stories and seen some of their early stuff, but I’m fortunate I’ve come along when K-Line is making good stuff at a great prices.
Now if that EP-5 would just get here soon, I can maybe get it broken in before my KCC SD75 arrives…[:D]
As Tom Petty sang, “The waiting is the hardest part.” Think he was talking about K-Line???
Hello All: What would the world be without competition? Did K-Line, M.T.H.,Williams, Atlas, cause Lionel to blink? I personally think they did. What level of quality,or price point would we have without an alternative? Let me compare it to other market’s we are all familiar with. Remember the Auto Industry in the 70’s, the paint was darn near blowing off as you drove down the Highway, If you went back for warranty work the North American Big three always tried to weasel out of it. Then along came the Asian Imports with their JUNK. We all Laughed along with the big three figuring they would never last. But what did they do? They went back to the drawing board & came back with a better product, excellent warranties. We started to notice when the big three started to lay off & cut staff from the boardroom on down, we were not laughing anymore. The big three finally had to come back with better product, fuel efficiency, & warranties that were worth more than a smile & a handshake. Are we better off? We have more choice & selection than ever before. Is competition good for the Train world? I say yes, besides it sure makes great conversation. Kind Regard’s to All Steve
At this point I may have more Marx stuff than anything else. People who call Marx (and by extension, K-Line) “junk” need to be ready to take it when a true scale modeler, whether in O (real O SCALE–with 2-rail track and DC operation) or another scale, takes issue with the third rail, or the track being five scale feet wide, or the trucks being too tall, or the couplers being too big, and calls their beloved trains “junk.” Which some will. But the funny thing is, most 2-rail O scalers I know are too busy having fun with their hobby to throw bricks at people who enjoy something else. Imagine that.
Scale realism and detail are nice, but they aren’t necessarily the only thing people look for, and people who have other priorities shouldn’t have to defend their decision. If someone wants to run O27 curves because they want a large train but don’t have room for O72, he or she shouldn’t have to defend the decision.
Elitism is the most annoying thing in most hobbies, and that’s certainly the case in this one.
I don’t have a lot of K-Line, but I’m glad to see the Marx tooling is being used to make affordable trains, just like in the '50s. K-Line has just started up a line of affordable S gauge trains based on the Marx tooling. Marx O27 was very close to 1:64 scale so it’s a fairly good fit. Sometimes a car is a few scale feet too long or too tall or too wide, so some people don’t like them, but the consensus seems to be that they’re glad K-Line is making something durable and inexpensive in their scale. I agree.
I will repeat my posting from about a year ago about my problems with K-Line, having to do with bad zinc castings:
I am currently down on K-Line. Here are some excerpts from a previous topic that I started (“Rotten K-Line trucks”) that will explain why:
I just finished rebuilding a K-Line truck whose transom and drawbar casting crumbled, using the leftover casting from another truck whose sideframes disintegrated some time back. I am pretty sure this is the same problem that plagues the zinc castings of many prewar trains and, I have read, was caused by impurities in the zinc.
Does anyone else out there have similar experience with K-Line castings?
…the trucks comprise three casting types: sideframes (2), transom and drawbar, and bolster (no spring plank). In the first instance, only the sideframe castings disintegrated; in the second case, only the transom-drawbar casting. Yet all the pieces of each truck had the same thermal history.
yes I purchased one a few months ago that was manufactured in the mid 90’s. When i got it home i tested the couplers and one of knuckles flew off, the dealer replaced the coupler.I don’t know what year your car was from but it seems that the ones made in the 90’s have casting problems. I live in pa and the sun always shines here.
Well, it happened again. I got out a couple of K-Line MKT piggyback trailers that I hadn’t seen in a couple of years (model 6640). The roof castings are swollen and flaking apart. The rest of the models look just fine, however.
…I’m pretty sure that the problem is impurities in the zinc and surprised that a modern manufacturer would still have trouble with that. See http://www.corrosio
The best things l like about K-Line are prices and diecast and aluminum offerings. Also the Plymouth switcher.
The only puzzle I have w/K-line is their new GP38, which goes for $400. It is pricier than MTH and Lionel’s. Can’t determine why that is except possibly it has a die-cast body, which is nice.
I love the scale aluminum hoppers and tank cars. They are priced the same as MTh plastic hoppers. Their coil cars are also nice too. I buy all the hoppers and tank cars I can from Kline. I have a lot of their intermodal stock as well. I do worry about the paint on their aluminum cars. I don’t want it to peel off. One problem I noticed about kline is the couplers. Sometimes the kline couplers won’t close. It only happens with other rolling stock. When I try to couple a kline piece to a lionel engine or mth piece. Overall great detail and value from kline.
I just bought K-lines Berkshire about two weeks ago and really love it . It has aslow start up but looks and sounds like a real steamer going through the phases of true running the tracks. I also like the slow down sequence that is doesn’t stop real fast and that too looks and sounds the realistic part of a steamer. The sound system is great and I can not fault K-line on any thing that they did except for the price. I got mine when a rep from K-line was selling his and got it for a real good price. Now I am checking out one of there Shays and would like to find out more bout them. I watched the video on CTT and was impressed. Anyone out there know anything bout the SHAY of K-line?
laz57
I also like K-line. Especially their 027 track and remote switches which are very reliable.
I think K-line, MTH, and Lionel should all take a note from the American and Asian car maker experiance and keep some focus on the least expensive lines. It seems established businesses are always willing to give up the lower end of the market and focus on the high end where margins are higher. When they do that, however, a new upstart comes along. First they take the bottom of the market, then the middle, and then head for the top (think Honda-Accura, Toyota-Lexus). As a matter of fact that is what K-line is doing right now. Let’s hope they keep some focus on the least expensive lines where most O gaugers start!
The bulk of my freight cars are K-Line. I really like thier 6464 type boxcars since the original Lionels were a bit too expensive for me, $15 to $30 for a boxcar is a good price $100 and up is hard to justify. Now thier tankcars and hoppers left a lot to be desired but they have really improved since the “old” days.
I too get grief from scale guys and diehard Lionel guys but the bottom line is I’m not recreating the world in miniture nor am I a Lionel sycophant I just like running trains!
A variety of comments above as I thought there might be. As bigwally illustrates, the KCC is probably one of the more brilliant moves K-Line has made. National media advertising is expensive, so why not try to entice the already established Lionel buyers into buying your product? I’m sure that line of thinking was in part behind the KCC. I remember when folks thought the KCC MP-15 for $45 was a fabulous deal. But 2 years later came the GG1 and now other scale models at hard to beat prices. The KCC deliveries have always been slow. There’s no doubt that K-Line uses the initial slew of membership dollars to help pay for the production. The slow deliveries have always been a complaint.
Bob’s comments about the truck castings (and I was thinking of him when I wrote the initial thread) I think also illustrate what I was saying about going for the cheap. I’ve had a few trucks break apart as Bob mentions. It’s mostly the poor coupling though that I think has annoyed many operators. I’ve been able to fix many of my own cars, but in an ideal world, the customer should not have to make these kinds of basic repairs
on something out of the box. And I’m sure there are many who don’t and just turn to buying another brand.
As a side note, the trucks on the Train-19 cars seem to be the best ones K-Line has made and I actually prefer those over most others. Too bad it took so many years for it to happen.
I think the other comments by Steve, Dave F., Jim and Baltimore show that there is still a group of modelers who appreciate more basic types of products. The hobby may be moving in a direction where the more upper level products receive all the attention and the vast bulk of commentary, but there is still a market for basic affordable trains.
It’s kind of like with the tyoes of layouts shown in the train magazines: guys with the expansive, big layouts obviously would be more willing to show them off in a feature article. The layouts are impressive. The magazine editors kn
I saw the K-line Shay in operation on one of the layouts at my local Hobby shop. It ran beautifully! The main repairman at the store told me the stock locomotive had problems stalling on switches. Ross custom in this case. He added two additional pickup rollers and has had no further problems.
Thanks DAVE,
I am going to ask my train guy to put it on the test track and run it for 5-10 minutes to see how it runs on the switches. Thanks for the heads up.
laz57
It happened again. The sideframe of a K-Line truck, already a replacement for the original sideframe, fell apart. Having no more salvaged K-Line sideframes, I replaced both trucks by Lionel lookalikes and thus replenished my stock of K-Line castings, ready for the next disintegration.
“Bob, I sympathize with your frustration about K-Line trucks. I saw your last posting on the K-Line thread and was wondering if these trucks that came apart were of the older variety or sone of the newer “Timken” stype they use on their Train-19 products? Just curious. K-Line truck quality has been all over the place, but I think these new ones on the Train-19 cars are the best they’ve done so far - at least by my experience.”
“Take care. Brianel”
These must be “the older variety” that you referred to. The latest failure was on a 9100 UP express car. However, contaminated zinc is never going to be evident on a new piece, since it seems to take at least a few years for it to go bad.
I’m one of those guys who only occassionally buys rolling stock, and when I do, it’s not the expensive stuff. I’ve been interested in purchasing a Train-19 freight car of some sort because of the price, as well as to compare with my Lionel, MTH, and IR stock.
So, is K-Line’s Train-19 rolling stock worth considering, or should I stay with MTH Railkings and Lionel starters?